Corruption and Pennsylvania: a perfect combination?

It’s a bad time for democracy in Pennsylvania. Corruption, scandal and an apparent lack of public and private sector integrity have brought the commonwealth to national attention. Unfortunately, this is not new.

History demonstrates that a culture of corruption has long characterized Pennsylvania. Malfeasance was apparent in its old political machines.

Corporate influence corrupted the Legislature when, for example, Sun Oil Co., and Pennsylvania Railroad lobbyists sat on the floor of the state Senate. Part of the problem also can be tied to the hegemony of extractive industries and their unfairness to working people, many of them immigrants.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett announced a second round of criminal charges flowing from the so-called "Bonusgate" investigation of the state Legislature. It's one of many problems in state government, argues Schwartz. (Photo: Christine Baker, The Patriot-News)
Pennsylvania takes a backseat to no state in this league. In his forthcoming biography, former Gov. George M. Leader (1955-59) is quoted saying “the commonwealth’s history of corruption” — that he worked to root out — “is an embarrassment.”

Recent problems seem worse than usual.

More than 25 individuals associated with the General Assembly are under investigation, have been indicted, pled guilty or await trial due to scandals such as Bonusgate. And, two Luzerne County judges were getting money from the detention facility where teens were being sent and profited handsomely. In that county alone, more than two dozen officials — including school district directors and county employees — face criminal penalties.

This level of outright scandal has not been seen since the 1970s when, similarly, a few dozen public officials were convicted of various corruption charges. That era trumps the first decade of the 20th century when several state officials, including the governor and private contractors, were investigated and some found guilty of bribery in an infamous scandal involving the furnishing of the ornate state Capitol.

That era was surpassed by the 1930s when, again, some state officials were indicted for influence peddling and financial misdealings.

The public sector has no monopoly on corruption in the Keystone State. The long and sordid history of extractive industry fraud was epitomized by the Knox Coal Co. that, in 1959, ordered miners to dig illegally under the Susquehanna River near Wilkes-Barre. The Knox Mine Disaster resulted from a massive cave-in that left 12 mineworkers dead, their bodies still under the Susquehanna.

A federal grand jury revealed widespread fraud and bribery and collusion among Knox, the United Mine Workers of America and organized crime.

More recently, the family founders of Pennsylvania-based Adelphia Communications skimmed profits, evaded taxes and bankrupted the company in the 1990s.

Then there is Philadelphia-based Reliance Insurance Co. — once among the bedrocks of American insurers — that went bankrupt in the 1990s due to shady investment practices and financial shenanigans. Officers and executives were held legally accountable.

When it was liquidated by Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner, its unpaid claims amounted to tens of millions that became the responsibility of a state guaranty fund that assesses insurers who, in turn, pass that cost on to their policy holders.

Why does such a culture of corruption exist in the first place?

The past provides some answers. One is that when seemingly honest individuals see opportunities for money, power or other enticements they can be easily corrupted.

AP Photo/David Kidwell, FileFormer Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, center, leaves the federal courthouse in Scranton, Pa., in February 2009. He is accused of accepting millions of dollars in kickbacks to send youths to private detention centers.
The string of indictments in Luzerne County and at the state Capitol reads like a who’s who; people who vacated honesty for money, power and to grow already inflated egos.

These (alleged) crooks ingratiated themselves with public money, democracy be damned. As history shows, greed, power grabs and inflated egos sometimes have run the show in Pennsylvania. The situation demonstrates the accuracy of Lord Acton’s quip that, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Dictatorial regimes everywhere leave enduring scars. Incompetence deepens the wounds.

It is possible to reform the mess?

More strict regulation on accountability and transparency from government officials, bankers and businesses — as was done in the Progressive Era, the New Deal and the current recession — are part of the answer.

Americans don’t like regulation, however.

Second, as in the early part of the last century when baseness ran rampant, journalists and media investigators need to shine the light on lawbreakers of all stripes.

Back then they were “muckrakers.” The most famous of all was Ida Tarbell from Titusville.

And, third, citizens can demand accountability from government and the private sector. Perhaps a new era of reform and civic participation can emerge from the present mess. If not then we deserve what we get.

Is government inherently corrupt? Certainly not.

Are corporations similarly infected on a wide scale? No. There are many competent and dedicated elected and appointed officials. The same is true for many in corporate America.

Yet the culture of corruption that has surfaced at present is a most unpleasant reminder of what has gone before.

ROBERT P. WOLENSKY is a Wisconsin-based sociologist who has written on Pennsylvania politics.

KENNETH C. WOLENSKY is a Grantville-based historian and author who is working with former Gov. George Leader on his biography.